Monday, January 02, 2006

A New Era

Sunday was the end of an era. An era where winning wasn't the number one priority, where cutting corners and expenses was acceptable. An era where the Vikings disappointed year after year because the franchise wasn't one hundred percent focused on winning the Super Bowl.

Today was the beginning of a new era. At his press conference, Zygi Wilf announced "my goal is to get a championship here. I will do whatever it takes within the guidelines. Money will not be an object to get myself a championship." Those words ushered in a new era, an era where the entire organization follows it's owner single minded pursuit of a Super Bowl ring.

Whether or not Zygi will be successful in turning a mediocre franchise into a perennial Super Bowl contender will depend on the decisions he makes in the next few weeks. The importance of the Head Coach and the General Manager to a football team cannot be overemphasized. Bad coaches cannot be overcome in football like they can in baseball. And it doesn't matter how good a coach is if he doesn't have the talent. The right combination of Coach and GM can lead to great things. One need only look at the duo of Belicheck and Pioli to see that. The opposite is also true, as I'm sure all the fans who wore orange at Ford Field two weeks ago could tell you. If Zygi makes the right choice, this new era might finally be the era Vikings' fans have been waiting for: the era where they win the Super Bowl.